One song at a time
by outshinebycomparison
Summary: What if Felicity and Oliver knew each other from high school? Oliver Queen is a senior having problems with a subject. He finds an unusual help in Felicity Smoak, a freshman - Note of the author: this is my first fanfiction EVER! English is not my first language, so I apologise in advance for all the mistakes I wasn't able to correct. Reviews would be lovely, thanks!
1. Chapter 1

_**2003**_

_**Chapter 1 - Clocks **__** Coldplay**_

Tommy Merlyn strived to keep Oliver Queen's pace while rushing through the school's hall. Second semester had started a month ago and in May they were both going to graduate from Starling Academy, a private and elitist high school in the city. Tommy was a diligent but average student, Oliver was very lucky. And he was an excellent football and baseball player.

"Seriously Oliver, you're not stupid and computer science can't be that difficult! How on earth you managed to get an E I don't understand!" Tommy said trying to not laugh.

Oliver slowed down and turned to his best friend:

"Hey! Programming stuff is not my thing at this point. Should have known better that it's not only about surfing on the net!"

"All the guys can do that! You are a shame to the male gender. Like, how many girls you have in class? Zero?"

"So what? Well, there's one girl, a freshman I think. She's the best actually…here with a scholarship and has just won a prize for a software program. They were celebrating in class last monday" Oliver said the last sentence rolling his eyes.

"Oh God…I can't even begin to imagine a group of nerds partying!" Tommy touched his chin and then he said in a serious tone "If that girl is good, you should ask her to help you revising!"

"What?" Oliver looked abashed.

"Come on, teacher Norrington said you can retake the test next week. You don't have much time and reading the textbook by yourself is not going to improve things!"

Oliver started to walk again toward the cafeteria and said:

"Yeah I surely need help, but I'm not going to ask that kid!"

"She's that ugly you cannot stand the idea of spending a few hours with her?"

Oliver sighted. That kid. Heck he didn't even remember her name. She was short, with glasses and a brown braid. "Ah, she is ok!"

"Seriously, why not? Is it because Oliver Queen doesn't want to ask for help to a nerdy freshman?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow "It's not that! You know I can talk my way around people"

"Especially girls…"

"Especially….Tommy you really know how to be annoying!" He frowned.

"Oliver, you have a problem and then you have the solution. Give her one of your smiles and she'll be at your feet. Easy!"

Oliver sighted again "Ok ok! Whatever…I'll ask her tomorrow"

"Good boy!" Tommy patted his shoulder while they entered the cafeteria for the lunch break.

Oliver and Tommy were part of the popular group of the school. Their table was exactly in the center of the cafeteria. Oliver sat down and started to eat his lunch lazily, without paying attention to his friends chatter. He was surprised to find himself looking for the freshman kid. He didn't find her in a dark corner. She was sitting at a table near the window, the sunlight gleaming on her face. Oliver recognized with her some other students from the Computer Science class. They were talking vividly and she seemed quite excited. She was a fast talker, he remembered that. A few times in class he'd wondered if it was humanly possible to talk that fast.

"It's going to be amusing" He muttered to himself and smirked.

Felicity Smoak was always the first to walk into Mr Norrington's classroom, as her previous class, Spanish I, was right in front of it. Felicity wasn't really into languages, she would rather study any scientific subject, but since it was compulsory to choose one, she had picked Spanish. It reminded her of their lovely neighbors, the Solano. She grew up with their kids but had probably learned no more than a dozen words in Spanish. The old Mrs Solano adored her. For a moment she thought she could watch a telenovela with her, and learn faster.

Felicity was so lost in her thoughts she didn't realize what was happening until she heard someone clearing his throat. She lifted her head and saw Oliver Queen standing in front of her and smiling.

She froze for a good 10 seconds. Then she quickly looked behind her. There wasn't anybody. So he definitely was smiling at her. Oliver Queen, son of one of the richest man in town, handsome and charming, the most popular guy among girls. Why on earth he was doing in front of her? Felicity wasn't surprised that he barely acknowledged her existence in the classroom.

"Hello!" He said sitting at the desk in front of her.

"Hello?" She said in an interrogative tone. Things were getting serious.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked politely.

"Ok!" She muttered looking at her wristwatch "You have actually 5 minutes before Mr Norrington comes in. He's always right on time, but I suppose you don't know that because you're always late" She said breathlessly but then slowed down "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Hey that's ok! You are actually right" Oliver shrugged.

Oliver cleared his voice again and then looked at her directly into her eyes:

"See, I know you are the best at Computer Science"

"You do?" She asked with the tone of someone you didn't believe what you were saying.

"Yeah, I happen to know that. And since I'm quite rubbish at this subject, unless it's about surfing on the internet" This line made Felicity snort "I thought I might ask you for help"

"Help? From me?" Felicity seemed clueless.

"Mr Norrington said I need to retake last week's test next Thursday. So I was wondering if you could help me revising a few times!"

Felicity was stunned. Oliver Queen has basically just asked her to tutor him in Computer Science. No way she could have expected this. She wasn't sure what to answer, so she bit her lips and started saying:

"To be honest, I'm going to be quite busy in the following days with the computer science club" Oliver raised an eyebrow at the thought of that kid being busy "See, we are taking part at a contest organized by the IT department of the city council. If we win, we'll go to a national contest that will take place at the M.I.T" Again it seemed that she didn't breath once.

"Aaah, that's interesting!" He said nodding.

"But….I think it won't be a problem to spare a few hours for you" Felicity tilted her head

"That's very kind from you!" He seemed peeved.

"Hmm…let me think. Today I can't. Tomorrow, at 4 p.m.? Would that be ok?"

"I have baseball practice but I'll make sure I'll be there on time!"

"Great! Ehm…good! I'll be the in the Computer Science Club room. You know where it is?"

"Of course…the Club building!"

Oliver stood up.

"Thank you…" He seemed to hesitate.

"Felicity, my name is Felicity Smoake" She said rolling her eyes.

"Oh I know your name Felicity!" He said apologetically and went to the back of the class, where he used to sit.

The bell rang and Mr Norrington entered the class. He was surprised to find Oliver Queen already there. Something must be wrong.

After 50 minutes the bell rang again. Felicity was still gathering her books when Oliver walked past her patting her shoulder. She met with his best friend Jeb at the locker.

"You won't believe what I'm about to tell you!"

"Surprise me!" He said in a flat tone.

"I'm tutoring Oliver Queen at Computer Science!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Don't tell me! At first I wasn't really sure what to answer him. And then I found myself saying that I could spare him a few hours!"

"You said that?" Jeb laughed

"I did. But hey, I'll believe this thing only when I'll see him walking through the Computer Science club , it's going to be amusing"

And they walked together to their next class, English.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello! I'm sorry I couldn't update earlier but these last two weeks have been quite busy. Thank you so much for your interest in my story. I have everything sorted out, like how it's going to develop and end, but it's quite challenging because I'm totally new in this writing thing._

**Chapter 2**

_**Justin Timberlake – Cry me a river**_

Felicity woke up feeling a bit nervous. She knew she shouldn't, because in the end it was a very simple thing: tutoring a student. Explaining him something she would love to do all day long. Everything was supposed to be under control, and she had even prepared a power point lesson on her laptop.

It was the idea of tutoring Oliver Queen that made her uncomfortable. When he had been only a few inches from her face she had really understood why every girl at the Academy was swooning after him, despite his questionable reputation. With those deep blue eyes he was really dreamy…..

Felicity moaned that she had enough of those silly thoughts and rolled out of bed. She had breakfast and wore the school uniform, the price to pay for being part of the Starling Academy. Although sometimes she thought it to be a good thing, so nobody would be judged for the way they dressed. Not that teenagers wouldn't find other ways to judge you.

Her mother, an American history professor at Starling City University, dropped her to school on his way to lectures. Just like every morning, Felicity met with Jeb and their friend Emily at their locker.

"Helloooo! Jeb has just updated me on the latest. That's beyond exciting!" She said giggling.

"Emily!" She sighted "I'm not sure I like the way you're making it sound"

"Well, once the whole school finds out that Felicity" She paused to mouth "who?" While gesturing the quotation marks "is tutoring Oliver Queen in computer science, I'll tell you, it's going to be a big deal"!

"The school doesn't need to find out" Jeb was scratching his head "I know you live for these things Em, but how can you think this is gossip material?"

"Can we not go this direction please?" Felicity grumbled "It's this afternoon and probably another one. I'm going to make sure he learns and understands everything to pass that test and then we can put a seal on it." She said the last words slowly and firmly.

"And besides, he's got a girlfriend right? I mean how could he not have one?" Jeb asked

"Yeah, I've seen her. Dunno her name though" Felicity nodded.

Silence. Jeb and Felicity looked at Emily.

"Come on! Emily, we know you know everything about her!" Jeb smiled.

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Knowing his reputation I wouldn't feel safe if I was his girlfriend" Whe said "Her name is Laurel Lance. Senior of course. Captain of Speech Club and cheerleader. She'll definitely be valedictorian!"

Felicity and Jeb couldn't help snorting.

_Talk of the devil and he is bound to appear_. This was what they must have thought once they begun to head to their classroom and then turned the aisle.

Oliver Queen, Tommy Merlyn, Laurel Lance and a few other students were walking in the opposite direction, laughing about something. Felicity slowed down just a few feet before them and said cheerfully:

"Hello Oliver! How are…" But she didn't finish the sentence. He walked past her without responding.

It was like he hadn't noticed her, and if he had, then he'd ignored her .In front of his friends. In front of all the students. Felicity went blank and looked down at her feet. Jeb took her quickly by the arm and lead her forward, followed by an outraged Emily.

"Did he like just ignore you?" Emily questioned

"What a JERK!" Jeb said "He DID see you" Emily nodded.

"Perhaps. But I guess he was too concentrated in himself to look around him" Felicity smiled, trying to hide some sort of disappointment. She hadn't expected anything more than exchanging greetings, but it had felt an awkward moment.

During computer science Oliver had arrived in class late as usual, and when the bell rang it had been Felicity who had rushed out to get as soon as possible to Algebra. Or better, to avoid him.

The Computer Science Club room was on the second floor of the Club building, and had a view on the baseball and softball practice field. Felicity worked with her fellow members on the competition project and once they left she did some homework while waiting for Oliver.

When the clock turned 4, she put away her books and opened her laptop. After 15 minutes he hadn't arrived yet. Well, he wasn't exactly a punctual person, she had learnt that. At 4.30 he still wasn't there so she looked down at the practice field and saw nobody, except a few girls of the softball team who were doing some stretching. Did he forgot or was he just very late?

Felicity decided to wait no more than another quarter of hour and then she would go home. No way she was going to be fooled; Oliver Queen was irresponsible and wasn't really interested in learning about computer science to remedy his failed test.

She sat at a table where there was a computer under construction. She was handling a motherboard when Oliver appeared in the room and said breathlessly "I'm so sorry Felicity!"

Felicity took a deep breath and said "Do you know what time…." But when she gazed at him she couldn't finish what she was saying. Oliver's hair was wet, and it seemed like he hadn't dried himself much before putting his clothes on. _Stop staring at him and go back being angry, _she thought. But he still was wet.

"You know, I do like wasting my time, but I'd rather waste it doing something else than waiting for you!"

She said trying to sound sharp.

Oliver came closer to sit near her and saw that Felicity was still holding the motherboard in her hands.

"What are you doing? Are you like building a computer?" He seemed stunned.

Felicity made a _"what sort of question is this"_ face and answered "I've been doing it since I was 7 years old"

He made a half smile and said "You are…well it's remarkable! I've never met a genius like you!"

"I know you don't care hanging around geniuses" She said

"Ha-ha, well but I can recognize one, can't I?"

"Well you didn't recognize in the hallway this morning…" She said in a low voice.

"What did you say Felicity?" He asked

"Nothing!" She froze "We better start revising now. You see that laptop? Sit there!" She ordered him.

Oliver raised an eyebrow amused but obeyed within a second. Yes, it was about time to start learning about that darned subject. His jaw almost dropped when he saw that Felicity had opened the power point file, she was quite serious about her task. Felicity turned out to be a good teacher, she made things look easier, although sometimes she would speed up talking and Oliver had to ask her to slow down.

"Talking too fast, again?" She said at least 4 times. And every time Oliver had tilted his head.

Felicity was leaning near his head when Oliver was finishing the last exercise. His short hair was almost dry and he smelled of soap, perhaps _bergamot_. She wanted to inhale that perfume but felt too timorous to do such a little thing.

Oliver turned quickly to Felicity and said "Hey I made only two mistakes!" Their faces were so close that she noticed he had a few freckles on his cheeks and nose. _No, it's not the right time to start counting them._

"Good boy!" She said smiling nervously and pumping her fist up in the air. Oliver seemed perplexed.

"We're done for today" Felicity turned off her laptop and put it back in her backpack. Without looking at Oliver she asked "Would next Monday, same hour, be ok?"

"Sure!" Oliver stood up and came near her. "Felicity…."

"Yes?" She was almost hissing.

"Thank you! Really. I'm kind of hopeless with this but today I felt like I can overcome this obstacle. It's a good start and it's all your merit!"

Felicity's eyes widened. She shook his hand and said "You're welcome"

Oliver was lying down on his bed with his eyes closed. It wasn't yet 10 o'clock. After dinner he'd played a while with his little sister Thea, who was just eight years old and then he had retired to his room, feeling tired.

Perhaps his brain had worked too much, he'd laughed at himself.

The phone rang and their housekeeper told him it was his friend, the young Mr. Merlyn.

"Hey buddy! Why are you calling me at this hour?"

"As if I've never called you at 10 or later!" his friend cackled "How did it go, how is she?"

"Who?" Oliver didn't seem to understand.

"The computer kid!"

"Oh right!" Oliver made a pause "She's cute!" Nope, this wasn't the answer he was supposed to give. The face of Felicity Smoak appeared in his mind, with her sheepish smile, and her green glasses she kept fixing on her nose. She was cute indeed, but she was nothing more than a kid.

Oliver cleared his voice "I mean she is good, today was already a win. A few more lessons and I can get rid of that damned test!"

"I see!" Tommy sighed, sensing that something wasn't in the right place "Well, talking about more interesting things, you're still coming at Danielle's party Saturday night?"

"Yeah I think so. Laurel doesn't really like Danielle but I can easily convince her!"

"I bet you do mate!" Tommy said "See you tomorrow then?"

"Sure Tommy. See you tomorrow!"

"And sweet dreams!" He said in a singing voice

"Get off!" Oliver laughed, hung the phone and went back to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_**Get busy – Sean Paul**_

"Finished!" Oliver smiled and put the paper in front of Felicity. It was Wednesday, the day before the retake, and Felicity had thought it to be a good idea to make Oliver do the exact same test he had failed the past week. The new one would have been most likely similar.

"Let's see" Felicity said pushing back the glasses on her nose. She quickly checked the test and Oliver peaked in to see how many marks she was making with her red pen. So far, four out of twenty, and she was nearly done.

"In Mr. Norrington's book, you would have gotten a 75/100" She said satisfied "How does it sound?"

Oliver took a deep breath. "I think I need 70, so it sounds great!"

Felicity stood up and walked near Oliver. She put a hand on his left shoulder and said looking very serious:

"Well my faithful disciple. I have given you all of my knowledge. Please make good use of it!"

And then Oliver did something unexpected, both for him and Felicity. He touched the hand she had put on his shoulder and squeezed it a little. He noticed that Felicity's cheeks had turned pink and realized that while he hadn't meant with that gesture anything more than gratitude, it had made her feel awkward.

Oliver gently took his hand off and cleared his voice: "Yes Obi Wan!" and smiled at her.

"Obi Wan!" She whispered surprised "Well….Luke" she paused "You know Star Wars then?"

"Yeah I've seen the movies several times" Oliver said raising an eyebrow "My favorite trilogy is Indiana Jones actually" he added.

"Ah I like them too. But I'm a Star Wars girl" She said enthusiastically "Give me anything that has to do with science, fantasy, sci-fi and I'm yours" _Ups, it wasn't something to say in front of Oliver Queen._

Oliver didn't even try to hide a grin. "I thought you were the geeky kind"

"And is there something wrong with it?" Felicity said almost backing off.

"Oh no Felicity!" He said gently "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry if my tone made you think otherwise. You are fine just the way you are" _Why on earth did I say that._

"We don't really know each other" she said suddenly.

"No we don't. But I'm going to stick around here for the rest of the semester. Who knows, we might become friends!" He winked. He took his backpack and said "We'll see?"

"We'll see" is all Felicity managed to answer. Then he went home, leaving Felicity to think.

_Friends. Oliver Queen is talking about becoming friends. Out of the blue. Where's the trick? We've spent three afternoons together. And we've mostly talked about computer science. _

Felicity shook her head. She had lots of homework to do for tomorrow, and it was not the time to think about him. He was making things confused though.

Oliver was driving home, with the music of the radio in the background. Jennifer Lopez's line "_Ain't it funny how a moment could just change your life_" made him think of what he had just said to Felicity in the C.S. Club Room. Basically he had sort of wished that he and Felicity could become friends.

She was funny, enchanting but at the same time childish, he felt very at ease in her company. And they couldn't be two more different people, coming from very different backgrounds. Well, he didn't know anything about her background but it was easy to assume it wasn't the same.

Hadn't it been for Tommy and his weird-but-totally-sensible –idea, he'd never gotten to know Felicity Smoak. And see her turn pink because he had squeezed her hand on his shoulder. He hoped she wasn't having a crush on him, because…it wasn't right, was it? And she was just a kid, he agreed to himself.

Thursday morning Felicity came into class finding Oliver already there. She mouthed him good luck and he answered with a wink. The bell rang and after a little while Mr. Norrington arrived. He made Oliver sit at a desk in front of him and moved the student occupying it at Oliver's place. Then he handed Oliver the test and gave him a sharp look. The test had some of the questions of the last test and the rest were new ones.

Felicity paid attention to the lesson but couldn't help looking from time to time at Oliver's back. He seemed very concentrated, sometimes pausing to think.

A few minutes before the bell rang again, Oliver stood up and handed back the test to Mr. Norrington. The teacher hinted with his hand that he ought to sit back while he was correcting the test.

The bell rang and Mr. Norrington hadn't finished yet. Everybody left the class and Felicity hesitated a moment. Of course she wanted to know how it had gone, but staying in class with Oliver and the teacher seemed a step too much.

"Ok let's wait outside" She ordered to herself and headed quickly out. She stationed near the water fountain in front of the classroom, and waited dangling on her feet.

It didn't take much for Oliver to come out. Felicity saw him looking at his right and then at his left, as if he was searching for something, but she couldn't read his expression. Then he saw her and his face lightened up in a big smile.

Felicity clasped her hands waiting for him to say something.

People around them could have thought Oliver was going to hug her, but after wavering a moment he took her hands and held them.

"85! Are you happy?"

Felicity looked down at his hands." Oh….of course I am! Are you?"

"Yeah yeah!" He winked.

He was still holding her hands when they heard someone clearing his voice

"What's going on here, am I missing something?"

Felicity removed her hands from Oliver's and stepped back. It was Tommy Merlyn, who was staring at them with a look that was a mix of amusement and curiosity.

"I had the test retake, remember I talked to you about it? It went very well. I was thanking Felicity!"

Tommy nodded, more amused. "So you are the famous Felicity Smoak. Tommy Merlyn, nice to meet you" He said turning his face to her.

"In which alternative universe I am famous?" She said warily and shaking hands with him.

"Oliver has talked to me a lot about you and how you've been helping him with this problem"

"Oh" Felicity raised an eyebrow. _A lot. _She managed a smile.

Oliver stared at both of them and then grabbed Tommy by the elbow.

"We're going to be late to class now, let's go! Thank you again Felicity" He and Tommy walked a few feet when Oliver suddenly stopped and looked back at her. Felicity was still near the fountain.

"Hey Felicity?"

"What?"

"Nice shirt!" He said and went away.

Felicity looked around and then down at her shirt. She laughed. The print said "Obi Wan Club".


End file.
